Magic In Elder Scrolls VI

Soyroy

So the most disappointing thing in Skyrim for me was magic. A pure mage build felt extremely weak compared to a warrior or archer. Also I felt most of the magic schools were lacking in variety. Destruction had several variations on elemental spells that changed little over each tier. Also the novice spells were the only real close combat spells, but were the crappiest. So here are my suggestions. Allow each spell to be upgraded so none fall into the useless category. Flames would be the best to use in close quarters, but lacks any range. Firebolt would be good for a mid to long range spell. Fireball would be a good long range mass area of affect spell, but may harm yourself/companions in close quarters. Fire Storm would be great for mass area of affect but should only be used when you have companions along with you. Each one of these could be upgrade-able with spell tomes you find or buy that are a tier up than the tiered spell you have. These spell tomes should be a lot rarer though. This could work for all magic schools. They should also add in more illusion and alteration spells since those two are the most lacking schools. This won't only amplify the mage experience, but encourage mages to explore for more tomes to unlock increasingly powerful spells. Unlike in Skyrim where you just came across them with ease. Also just a note darker themed spells would be a nice edition maybe you could unlock them through daedric quests or necromancer type quests. Just keep in mind I am using skyrims spells for examples since I have no doubt that these will be different in The Elder Scrolls VI. What spells would you like to see in The Elder Scrolls VI?

Majoron

I definitely think that an expanded set of spells would be great, and tiered versions of spells sounds good too. With such a wide variety of weapons and armour, it seems rather odd that magic hasn't been as fleshed out.

Soyroy

Majoron Definitely odd. The mage gets screwed in the apparel department as well. Since robes are next to useless mid game and in my opinion there were very few that actually looked good.

War

I just realized I rarely play as a mage in Elder Scrolls games - and that's probably because I find it the most difficult thing to have fun with.

Soyroy Robes are a huge hindrance. With other gear, there's a lot more variety and customization, but with mages there's not a lot of options.

Wunis

The worst part about magic is it's lack of variety in Skyrim. As you said, spell upgrades could help solve this, but they could also add more spells for each school. Restoration could have spells that specifically damage undead, Conjuration could summon more creatures from the Soul Cairn, Destruction could have new elements, etc.

Majoron

Wunis There are actually a couple of spells that specifically damage undead, Sun Fire and Vampire's Bane (I believe that they're added by Dawnguard) but once you get spells like Incinerate, the undead-specific spells are just outclassed.

Wunis

Majoron I know they exist, but we just need more of them. They should have an entire range, Novice-Master, that either turns undead or does insane amounts of damage to them (more than fire).

Soyroy

Wunis Definitely agree, but all spell in my opinion should have a side affect maybe they are far less effective on living.

Majoron

Soyroy Oh absolutely, I was taking it as a given that they would be resisted like Necromantic Healing or something.

astro

i was thinking about how magicka could possibly play out, it would be cool if the longer you powered up the spell the more magicka it used and the more powerful your spell was, so the more magicka you had the more powerful your spells could be. for instance if you tap the the right trigger (console) you would have a weak fireball but could use it more often, if you held the trigger you would see your magicka bar deplete and visually see the fireball getting bigger in your hand and it would do more damage at the cost of more magicka. Also bring back spell making from oblivion but improve upon it.

Cozy

For Skyrim, you might be interested in the Forgotten Magic Redone mod (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/35339/?)

it adds a good handful of spells that "level up" as you use them. You can use points from each spell level to add one of ten special bonus effects to the spell, and eventually you can upgrade entire categories of magic to be more powerful as well. The spells are also designed in a way that allows players to combo different spells together for greater effects and adds in magical items like rings that add even more bonus effects to specific spells, which ends up resulting in you searching for items that fit your play style instead of just the best overall items in the game.